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EUROPEAN COMMISSION - PRESS RELEASE
New partnership between EU and UN Women to
enhance gender equality worldwide
Brussels, 16 April 2012 - A new partnership between the EU and UN Women set up
to strengthen cooperation between the two organizations on their work on
empowering women and gender equality, was today signed by High Representative
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/ Vice President of the Commission Catherine
Ashton and Commissioner for Development Andris Piebalgs, with Under-SecretaryGeneral and Executive Director of UN Women Michelle Bachelet.
The new Memorandum of Understanding signed on the margin of the EU
Sustainable Energy for All Summit in Brussels, reaffirms the partnership between
the two organisations to support gender equality and women’s empowerment
around the world and ensures closer collaboration; sharing information, expertise
and analysis in order to effectively advance women’s rights.
Cooperation will primarily focus on ensuring women’s representation in decisionmaking in the fields of economics, politics and justice worldwide, as well as better
access for women to work and social opportunities.
Crucially, the partnership will see the two organisations coming together to take
action on combating sexual and gender-based violence. This will include a
commitment to provide more support and protection to survivors of violence and
increasing access to support and services for those women affected.
Catherine Ashton said: "Discrimination against women and girls remains the most
pervasive and persistent form of inequality. Together with UN Women we will work
to improve the role of women in political and economic decision-making. We will
also fight impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence, ensure better protection of
women and improve their access to justice. These are issues that need our full
attention and this new partnership enhances our ability to work even harder to
reach these goals."
EU Commissioner for Development, Andris Piebalgs added: "As I travel around the
world, I can see that women are the agents of change. There will be no human and
economic development without a sound respect of women’s rights and conditions.
This is a fundamental part of the development policy that I wish to champion. I'm
convinced that this partnership will take our collaboration with UN Women to a new
level, ensuring more efficiency and better support to women all over the world."
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UN Women Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director Michelle Bachelet
said: “The full participation of women strengthens democracy, peace and
sustainable development globally. By signing this strategic partnership, the
European Union and UN Women reaffirms their strong commitment to gender
equality and women’s empowerment. This partnership builds on on-going
collaboration in several areas of work. The EU is a very important partner to UN
Women and the MoU will enhance our co-operation on policies and programmes
which make a difference in the lives of millions of women and girls worldwide.”
The partnership will involve the two organisations working together on policies and
programmes on gender equality and women's empowerment. It will also mean that
relevant information, analysis and strategic assessments are regularly shared in
order to improve collaboration.
Background
The EU and UN Women are already working together regularly, for example, on the
Increasing Accountability in Financing for Gender Equality Progamme, set up to
help national governments; civil society and donors to improve resources and
accountability on gender equality in 15 countries. A program recently started on
enhancing women’s participation in peace-building and post-conflict planning in
Liberia, Timor-Leste and Kosovo. The new Memorandum of Understanding
confirms this partnership.
EU's work on gender
The Commission has a crucial role to play in furthering the development of women
and girls. Since 2004, for example, thanks to EU support: more than 85,000 new
female students have been enrolled in secondary education, more than 4 million
births attended by health personnel and 10.8 million consultations on reproductive
health carried out.
EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit – the Gender dimension
On 16 April, the European Commission and the Danish Presidency of the EU
Council are organising the EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit. The afternoon
session of this event will focus on gender and access to sustainable energy for
women where Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of UN Women
Michelle Bachelet will provide the keynote address.
Women are disproportionately adversely affected by the lack of modern energy
services. Energy plays a major role in women's daily lives; in practical uses, such
as cooking and processing food and collecting water, and in meeting their wider
needs; allowing them to study in the evenings, providing street lighting for safety,
and enabling communication.
This Summit is being hosted by President José Manuel Barroso and EU
Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs. Other high level participants include
the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, as well as representatives from
developing countries, industry and civil society organisations committed to
achieving sustainable energy for all by 2030. This ambitious goal was set up by a
High Level Group, led by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, of which
Commissioner Piebalgs is a member.
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For further details about the EU's work with women, go to:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/news/documents/factsheet_womensday_en.pdf
To find out more about UN Women, go to:
http://www.unwomen.org/
UN Women is the UN organization dedicated to gender equality and the
empowerment of women. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was
established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide. UN Women
supports UN Member States as they set global standards for achieving gender
equality, and works with governments and civil society to design laws, policies,
programmes and services needed to implement these standards.
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/what/energy/sustainable/se4all_en.htm
To find out more about the EU Sustainable Energy for All Summit, go to
http://www.cvent.com/events/eu-sustainable-energy-for-all-summit/event-summary-ecd2a79dca4245f281c8f1bdc9936c08.aspx
http://www.sustainableenergyforall.org/
Contacts :
Catherine Ray (+32 2 296 99 21)
Wojtek Talko (+32 2 297 85 51)
Maja Kocijancic (+32 2 298 65 70)
Daniel Almeida (+32 2 213 1445)
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